I've only got one buck tag left. I Let the biggest deer I've ever let walk go on Saturday. A nice 2 or 3 yo 8 point. He was a good one but will be a stud next year if he makes it. Anyone else on my lease will shoot this deer. What are the odds of him making it? How many of yall have actually killed a buck you let walk the year before? Yes I am second guessing my decision. What are yalls thoughts on letting good deer walk Knowing the odds are not in your favor. I guess I was just not ready for the season to be over and wanted the opportunity to harvest him next year. Ive heard all the sayings like dont pass on a deer you would kill on the last day. I really hope he makes it to next year but I know the odds are not in my favor. Thoughts on letting a good deer walk in the hopes he becomes a stud.

I let em walk every year! I can only control the parts I can control!

I do it all the time. Maybe you could get with the guys on the lease to try and let him live. If you keep shooting all the two and three year old you have no age class for the future. Eventually you won’t have hardly any bucks to shoot because there isn’t any there. The property I bought was shot up with hardly no age class and very little deer. A few years of feeding hard and letting stuff walk and only shooting mature 4 plus year old deer I have grown some deer. Now it’s pretty common to see a couple nice bucks or so and some does every sit. My shooter bucks are pretty frequent showing up in daylight as well.

Two of the ones I let walk earlier got killed this weekend.

Without tags in the ears I have a hard time knowing which deer I see from season to season. Except one that had pronounced droptines.

I never saw a deer this year that i let walk last year. That just dont happen around here. Ivelet a few walk. Never saw them again, or maybe saw them again soon after that a time or two, then never again. It is what it is.

You just have to let it go if you decide not to shoot and not worry about it, some make it and some don’t but yes I’ve killed several the next season that I decided to pass

I let way more walk than I shoot. Some make it. Some don’t. I can’t control that. I can control what I shoot.

This

My trigger is the only one I control. I let a lot walk, where they go after I pass and what the next guy thinks I cannot control .I had my chance and passed. I am in a club where a lot of others do the same, but our property is surrounded by others who may not be on the same program.

Think of it like getting a tempting job offer that you decline because it isn’t the right fit for you. And then someone else you know ends up taking the job. Maybe it causes you to second guess yourself for a moment but ultimately the same reasons you declined are just as valid.

None of us are going hungry so hunting antlers is pure sport. Do whatever gives you the challenge you want.

This

I’m all for killing big deer, but as I get older the less I care and the more I realize what a pipe dream that thought process is.

What SJ said

I killed one last year and had 3 years of pics on him - might hav shot him the year before but never saw him. Actually put on fair amount following year or year i killed him - he was always a cull but his weak side got lot stronger and he developed a kicker. I got an ugly 6 now that i think is 7 year old - passed him 3 times 2 years ago - developed a split brow this year - if i see i will shoot

My best deer n clarke this year is a good 9 for bama deer - he was 4 year old last year - grew fair amount - possible mounter - twiner - he gets shot if i see

I hate to say on this one - dont want to jinx - but i had absolute young stud 2 years ago n clarke county - never saw last year and thought he would make 130 last year as 5 year old - figured he dead - i got a pic on camera this year and all i got was 3 tines (partial rack shot) think it maybe him - never came back to camera

Shot a 7 year old 2 years ago - wanted to shoot the year before - never saw him - his rack went down some - but he developed a few dagers year i shot him

So yea - they can make it - really cool when they put on inches - kind of sucks when they go other way and shrink 😀

I want to try to shoot 5 year old or bettr

One time 5 years ago I let a piebald 5 year old giant walk because he had broken his left side off and he lived on the property. Got pictures of him the next year but never saw him. Never got another picture of him. He was a stud!!

These pictures were from the year before I saw him broke off

Buck tags? I’ve got to find these elusive things at some point. Folks always talking about them.

Lot of folks scream all the time at me for not shooting certain deer. It rarely if ever works out in my favor, but my mind is right knowing I didn’t just shoot one just because. I personally would rather someone that is tickled pink shoot a deer that I passed than just shooting one to throw the horns in the garage or on the shed out back.

Currently out of state. Yesterday, I watched a high 30s, low 40s, slick 8pt walk for the third time this week. Soon as he walked off, he hadn’t crossed the line no more than 2min before a shot rang out. Odds high that buck is now dead but it made some other hunter happier than what he’d made me. And the experience I had watching him being a mature buck in rut was worth the whole thing to me. Is what it is and nothing we can do about those situations.

Yep! We have a few guys on the lease that have never shot a deer as big as the one I passed so I know it will be Their biggest. I will be happy for them!

I've killed several I let walk the year before, often very close to where I saw them the year before. If you ever want to kill big bucks ya gotta let them go till they get at least 4 . You'll learn a lot more from the bucks you don't kill than those you do.